While The Lancet ombudsman Dr. Malcolm Molyneux refused to reverse the retraction of exonerated gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s landmark paper on post-vaccination autism, Dr. Molyneux did acknowledge that the UK General Medical Council’s findings of misconduct against Dr. Wakefield had been overturned.

When told that the 2012 High Court decision in favor of Dr. Wakefield’s colleague Prof. John Walker-Smith “would kill the GMC findings on which your journal’s retraction was based”, the ombudsman Dr. Malcolm Molyneux replied:

Dear Mr Crosby,

Thank you for your letter of June 13, 2015, in which you request that the Lancet Editor reinstate the retracted paper Ileal-lymphoid-nodular-hyperplasia, non-specific colitis and pervasive developmental disorder in children.

In the retraction statement, the editors of The Lancet stated that “several elements of the 1998 paper by Wakefield et al are incorrect. In particular….’” The retraction then mentions the enrolment [sic] procedure and ethical clearance, but implies that there remain other elements on which the decision was based.

Having considered all of the relevant material, I can see no sufficient reason for reinstatement of the Wakefield paper. I do not believe that COPE’s guidelines have been violated by retraction of the paper in question, or by failure to reinstate it.

I do not believe there is justification for any further debate about this extensively discussed article.

Yours sincerely,

Prof Malcolm Molyneux, Lancet Ombudsman

Despite Molyneux alluding to “other elements” which he did not name, at least both The Lancet and Dr. Andrew Wakefield agree that he was exonerated of the disciplinary findings against him now that they have been completely overturned. The British Medical Journal had better have a strong enough relationship with the drug company Merck to offset the expulsion from the National Library of Medicine that journal may now face as a result of defaming Dr. Wakefield. Now that The Lancet ombudsman has acknowledged that elements of its own retraction of Dr. Wakefield’s paper have proven to be false, The Lancet had better hope the same for its own relationship with Merck as well.

There is another choice The Lancet can make, however, which is to do the right thing by restoring Dr. Wakefield’s paper to its rightful place in the medical literature. And then maybe – just maybe – The Lancet editor can get that five minutes with Donald Trump he’s been begging for…

I tried to visit Donald Trump to discuss the future of global health, but a polite NYC policewomen turned me away. pic.twitter.com/cD0aQgzjKc

He may have been fighting the good fight for decades, but this year Dr. Andrew Wakefield met with our now-president-elect who stood up for vaccine-injured children in the GOP debate. Dr. Wakefield played a crucial role in informing people that Donald Trump was the only candidate who would tackle the autism epidemic:

For me, this is a one-issue election. That is the future of this country invested in its children, and if we have mandatory vaccination in this country, in this state as they have in California, then it’s all over. And we will achieve that objective by 2032 of 1 in 2 children with autism. There is one person – whatever else you may think about him – who has expressed the fact that he knows that vaccines cause autism, that vaccine damage is real, and this is an issue that will never in his mind lead to mandatory vaccination either statewide or stateswide. Now I had the privilege of meeting him the other day to discuss this precise issue, and he is on our side. Whatever else you may think, I want you to bear that in mind. I’m not going to tell you how to vote; you are free-thinking Americans. But I will say is that we will not get a second chance. Within two years, I would say, of Hillary Clinton getting in – if she gets in – there will be mandatory adult and child vaccination across the entire country.

Autism Investigated was the first to uncover evidence that put the final nail in the coffin of the UK General Medical Council’s findings against Dr. Andrew Wakefield. In the below video at AutismOne’s annual conference, he gives credit where credit is due and promised to give “very, very serious consideration” to pursuing the restoration of his medical license.

In a later interview on Canadian radio, he reiterated Autism Investigated’s reporting that all the findings against him were overturned four years ago and that had he been given the money to appeal, he would still have his license. When questioned by Autism Investigated about why he still didn’t have a medical license despite the overturned findings, the UK’s General Medical Council responded that it would consider “any further supporting evidence” Dr. Wakefield provides should he apply for re-licensure.

In the September GOP presidential debate, Trump made the following statement that would lead to Autism Investigated’s formal endorsement of his presidential campaign:

Autism has become an epidemic. Twenty-five years ago, 35 years ago, you look at the statistics, not even close. It has gotten totally out of control.

I am totally in favor of vaccines. But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. Because you take a baby in — and I’ve seen it — and I’ve seen it, and I had my children taken care of over a long period of time, over a two or three year period of time.

Same exact amount, but you take this little beautiful baby, and you pump — I mean, it looks just like it’s meant for a horse, not for a child, and we’ve had so many instances, people that work for me.

Just the other day, two years old, two and a half years old, a child, a beautiful child went to have the vaccine, and came back, and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.

I only say it’s not — I’m in favor of vaccines, do them over a longer period of time, same amount.

But just in — in little sections. I think — and I think you’re going to have — I think you’re going to see a big impact on autism.

In response to NBC’s Today Show co-host Savannah Guthrie, Barack Obama gave the following stance on vaccination (italics mine):

“The science is, you know, pretty indisputable. We’ve looked at this again and again. There is every reason to get vaccinated, but there aren’t reasons to not.”

But then in that same interview, Obama gave as a reason to vaccinate the protection of people who have reasons not to vaccinate (italics mine):

“…the folks who can’t get vaccinated – small infants for example or the people with certain, uh you know, vulnerabilities that, that can’t get vaccinated – they suddenly become much more vulnerable. They’re counting on us to create this protective fence because most people have been vaccinated.”

The meme was created in response to Hillary Clinton characterizing half of President-Elect Donald Trump’s supporters as a “Basket of Deplorables” and includes President-Elect Trump himself along with Vice President-Elect Mike Pence and some of their most loyal supporters.

In a July 29th interview with Toronto’s Newstalk 1010 radio, exonerated British doctor Andrew Wakefield stated that all the findings against him by the UK General Medical Council were overturned four years ago – a fact Autism Investigated has been reporting for months. He went further to say that if he was able to pay for his appeal, he would be entitled to practice medicine again in an interview that came out just months after he said he would give “very, very serious consideration” to having his license restored. Within days of the radio interview, panic ensued within the vaccine industry.

Whatever Harrison and others might say, there are simply no official findings left to justify Wakefield’s de-licensure or subsequent retraction of any of his published papers. In a signed letter to Autism Investigated, the General Medical Council stated that it would consider Wakefield’s application for re-licensure and “any further supporting evidence” he provides. Harrison and co. are undoubtedly nervous that Wakefield could get his license back, and rightly so.

Addendum: The audio track has been removed. Autism Investigated has made inquiries to the radio station about its removal and will keep you informed of any updates.